Madeira Jon
Active Member
This was posted on a BMW forum by a policeman.
Got this ent to me in an E-mail.
A Mercedes dealer told a customer his car needed £4,376 to repair - the actual cost was just £36.25.
The Mercedes was towed to a Nottinghamshire Mercedes garage following a breakdown. The Service Manager gave the customer the bad news and claimed the estimated cost of your repair to be £2,654.75 for parts and £1,700 worth of labour totalling £4,376.06”
The owner became suspicious when the Service Manager suggested the repair may not be viable and to trade in the vehicle for a new Mercedes may be the best option.
What the Mercedes Service Manager did not realise was the vehicle owner; Mark Cornwall is from Mail Order specialist, Car Parts Direct. Mr Cornwall has had 25 years experience in supplying vehicle parts and regularly advises motorists about Garage scams, overcharging and sharp practices on his company website.
Mr Cornwall said, “I immediately sent an employee to the garage to put security seals on my vehicle and insisted no one touch the car until I could established the genuine fault. I then contacted Mercedes head office in Europe and arranged for a Mercedes technical expert to meet an Independent inspector with the car.”
The independent report found that no parts were actually required whatsoever. Only a simple job of cleaning electrical contacts was needed to rectify the fault.
The Independent Engineer, Steve Ward of SW Auto Services from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire said “I repaired the vehicle in less an hour and charged Mr Cornwall £36.25. My invoice was thirty pounds for my labour and £6.25 for the cleaning materials.”
Ken Lally, the technical engineer sent from Mercedes head office admitted the dealership did not have diagnostic facilities to test the individual items described as faulty by the dealership and the only way Mercedes could guarantee their work was to replace any suspect parts. A report sent from Mr Lally to Mr Cornwall suggested cleaning of terminals may have been an option the dealer could have offered. Mark Cornwall claims this option was never offered by the Mansfield Mercedes dealership.
Mr Cornwall said, “I feel the Mercedes dealer tried to cheat me out of cash and looked to manipulate the situation to sell me a new vehicle through devious and unscrupulous practices - my vehicle is running fine now as a result of one aerosol of electrical contact cleaner.”
The Mercedes dealer in Nottinghamshire is part of the Inchcape PLC, group of dealerships, one of the largest Franchised Car dealer operators in the UK. Mr Cornwall has posted a list of the fifteen top tips on how to avoid being ripped-off by unscrupulous garages on his company website, visit www.carparts-direct.co.uk
Got this ent to me in an E-mail.
A Mercedes dealer told a customer his car needed £4,376 to repair - the actual cost was just £36.25.
The Mercedes was towed to a Nottinghamshire Mercedes garage following a breakdown. The Service Manager gave the customer the bad news and claimed the estimated cost of your repair to be £2,654.75 for parts and £1,700 worth of labour totalling £4,376.06”
The owner became suspicious when the Service Manager suggested the repair may not be viable and to trade in the vehicle for a new Mercedes may be the best option.
What the Mercedes Service Manager did not realise was the vehicle owner; Mark Cornwall is from Mail Order specialist, Car Parts Direct. Mr Cornwall has had 25 years experience in supplying vehicle parts and regularly advises motorists about Garage scams, overcharging and sharp practices on his company website.
Mr Cornwall said, “I immediately sent an employee to the garage to put security seals on my vehicle and insisted no one touch the car until I could established the genuine fault. I then contacted Mercedes head office in Europe and arranged for a Mercedes technical expert to meet an Independent inspector with the car.”
The independent report found that no parts were actually required whatsoever. Only a simple job of cleaning electrical contacts was needed to rectify the fault.
The Independent Engineer, Steve Ward of SW Auto Services from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire said “I repaired the vehicle in less an hour and charged Mr Cornwall £36.25. My invoice was thirty pounds for my labour and £6.25 for the cleaning materials.”
Ken Lally, the technical engineer sent from Mercedes head office admitted the dealership did not have diagnostic facilities to test the individual items described as faulty by the dealership and the only way Mercedes could guarantee their work was to replace any suspect parts. A report sent from Mr Lally to Mr Cornwall suggested cleaning of terminals may have been an option the dealer could have offered. Mark Cornwall claims this option was never offered by the Mansfield Mercedes dealership.
Mr Cornwall said, “I feel the Mercedes dealer tried to cheat me out of cash and looked to manipulate the situation to sell me a new vehicle through devious and unscrupulous practices - my vehicle is running fine now as a result of one aerosol of electrical contact cleaner.”
The Mercedes dealer in Nottinghamshire is part of the Inchcape PLC, group of dealerships, one of the largest Franchised Car dealer operators in the UK. Mr Cornwall has posted a list of the fifteen top tips on how to avoid being ripped-off by unscrupulous garages on his company website, visit www.carparts-direct.co.uk
